by Mark Ollig
In London, British astronomer Richard Carrington was
drawing images being projected onto a “pale straw color” plate of glass from
his telescope pointed at the sun.
The images he drew were of large dark spots, appearing on
the surface of the sun.
Carrington was surprised by “two patches of intensely
bright and white light” which suddenly showed on the dark spots; known today as
sunspots.
This was 157 years ago. Carrington had witnessed a huge
solar flare erupting from the sun – and this massive flare was headed directly
towards Earth.
“The phenomenon took place at an elevation considerably
above the general surface of the sun,” he later wrote in the November 1859
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society publication.
Thursday, Sept. 1, 1859, the bright and powerful coronal
mass ejection (CME) emitted from the sun, blanketed the upper Earth’s
atmosphere.
This solar event caused confusion and wonderment; as the
sky brightened, and then changed into a red, green, and purple swirling hue of
a gigantic aurora borealis.
Over the course of several days, the resulting magnetic
solar storm played serious havoc with devices using electricity – especially
electrical telegraphs.
Telegraph systems, a commonly used communications device
in 1859, required battery-power to operate.
A battery cell supplying the voltage was comprised of a
glass jar filled with a chemical solution (such as copper sulfate) with copper
and zinc electrodes immersed in the solution.
A chemical reaction between the electrodes and the
solution created an electrical voltage.
Battery cells were connected together to produce the
greater voltages needed for a telegraph to operate over long spans of telegraph
wire.
I was surprised to learn about the many unique and
distinctive styles, and makers of not only telegraphs, but electrically-powered
magnetic clocks used in 1859.
However, let’s digress back to the CME, which has now
reached Earth.
Upon entering the atmosphere, the solar storm wrapped its
powerful flow of electrical current energy around miles of copper telegraph
wire attached to wooden poles.
Telegraph wire connected the many individual telegraph
stations located along the railroad tracks and towns.
At some stations, telegraph operators were physically
being shocked by the solar storm’s electrical current surges on the brass or
copper telegraphy break-key they used to tap out (key) coded messages.
There were reports of sparks, shooting out of the
break-keys, causing paper used with the telegraph machine to be set on fire.
Telegraph operators hurriedly disconnected the batteries
to their telegraph machines.
After doing this, many experienced a surprising
discovery.
The electric current from the solar storm was powering
their telegraph systems – without having any batteries connected.
I came across an astonishing personal account of a
conversation between two telegraph operators, written in the 1859 Boston
Evening Star newspaper.
This conversation was between the Boston, MA, and
Portland, ME telegraph operators working on the American Telegraph Line.
Boston operator: (to Portland operator) Please cut off
your battery entirely from the line for 15 minutes.
Portland operator: Will do so. It is now disconnected.
Boston operator: Mine is disconnected, and we are working
with the auroral current. How do you receive my writing?
Portland operator: Better than with our batteries on.
Current comes and goes gradually.
Boston operator: My current is very strong at times, and
we can work better without batteries, as the aurora seems to neutralize and
augment our batteries alternately, making current too strong at times for our
relay magnets. Suppose we work without batteries while we are affected by this
trouble?
Portland operator: Very well. Shall I go ahead with
business?
Boston operator: Yes. Go ahead.
I read that the electrical current produced by this solar
storm went up and down; but provided enough electricity for many telegraphs to
operate for hours..
Although the telegraph operators needed to reconnect the
batteries; for a brief while, there were actual working, “solar-powered”
telegraphs in 1859.
Ground-based magnetometers, available in 1859, were able
to measure the forces, or the “strength” from the solar storm.
Magnetometers plotted out a magnetogram graph of the
solar event on an hourly basis, from Sept. 1 through Sept. 3.
Today, of course, we depend on many electronic devices
and systems.
Most of them require a constant and uninterrupted
supply of electricity.
As of 2013, there were more than 200,000 miles of
high-voltage transmission lines making up the national electric grid, according
to the US Energy Information Administration.
The Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite was launched
into space Feb. 10 of this year, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
The satellite’s primary purpose is to obtain information
about the solar wind and charged particles constantly bombarding our planet’s
magnetic field.
“These data help us to prepare for and respond to solar
events that could disrupt our critical infrastructure,” said the official White
House blog.
In 2009, the Department of Energy, along with private
funding, invested $9.5 billion for modernizing the nation’s electrical grid.
“The consequences of a future solar storm like the
Carrington Event of August-September 1859 are extensive and involve a range of
potential economic impacts not unlike a major Force 5 hurricane or tsunami that
could [immobilize] the present national electricity grid for an extended
period,” states a White House file document titled: National Cyber Systems
Infrastructure Security Review Concept Paper.
Stay tuned.
